63. The Tunnel

[corrinesbell]

[voiced]

I am really getting sick of this feeling down here.

Anyway. We're heading the opposite direction of Yuri's group. There are doors here, too, lots of them. A bunch are rusted shut, so I guess it must've been wet down here at some point. Couldn't tell you what the walls and stuff are made of, either, even with a lantern. But I think it's weird that this place caved in under us. The rest of it seems sturdy enough, so hopefully it doesn't happen again down here.

Lloyd got one door unlocked and he's working on another one, so we're gonna go in and look around. Gimme a minute and then one of us will be able to tell what's in there.

[written, filtered]
Hey, Albert. When you read this, I have a thought.

[action]

[standing outside the doors with the others, waiting]

Comments

[Action]

[salvationfound.livejournal.com]

[He'll just chill here and breathe slowly. Go on and eat you guys. o/]

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

Hey, Kratos.

[Action]

[salvationfound.livejournal.com]

Yes?

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

When we're not so busy doing this, there's something I gotta ask you, okay?

[meaning, when voices don't echo and people aren't in such close proximity]

[Action]

[salvationfound.livejournal.com]

[Thinking she might ask about how he's acting, he tries to look better. Straightening up, breathing faster and reaching for food.]

If you so desire.

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

And until then, I'm not gonna say anything about it. [meant to let him know that he can drop the act, she'll do her best to ignore it in any obvious ways]

[Action]

[salvationfound.livejournal.com]

[He stays silent for a while, then leans back again. Before his back hits the wall, though, Sheena's ninja hearing should hear a quiet "thank you" come from him.]

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

[her only response is to go on eating, and maybe nod sort of]

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

[Raine knows what's bothering him, but she's doing her part and keeping quiet about it. Being epically focused/distracted helps, too.]

Hm. If we're going to just pause here for a little while, I'm going to check the other rooms in the area before we move on again.

[Action]

[kid-in-red.livejournal.com]

Professor, you should rest too.

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

I will, after I've looked around. I was hoping I could find a few more pages to compare the codes with, at least.

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

We found some, too. ...Zelos has them.

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

I... see.

In any case, it won't take long.

[Action]

[kid-in-red.livejournal.com]

Professor, did the ones you found have people's names on them, too?

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

...Yes, they did. The code is going to take some time to work through, if the papers even remain intact by the time we're done.

[Action]

[kid-in-red.livejournal.com]

Why wouldn't they?

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

I meant that we don't know if the Malnosso will attempt to have them recovered before then. We really don't know for certain if these are actual papers, or simply planted here to catch our attention.

[Action]

[kid-in-red.livejournal.com]

...Wait, then you think this is a trap?

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

It's much too suspicious for it to be anything otherwise. Though we have no way of knowing for certain until we uncover more information.

[Action]

[kid-in-red.livejournal.com]

Dammit. That's a really sick way of doing it...

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

Indeed.

Considering all this, we've no real other option but to continue to check things out for now. Just carefully, in case there is an unpleasant surprise waiting at the end.

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's thought about this being way too easy for us.

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

I've had that thought even before we actually came down there.

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

I kinda did, too...but at the same time, this isn't something we can just pass up.

[Action]

[wise_maiden]

Yes. That's why we're here, after all. We don't know how much farther this tunnel will lead us, or if we'll eventually hit the barrier while down here.